Towing ability of 2004 Suburban 5.3L, 4.10, 4WD
Can anyone give first hand knowledge of the towing abilities of a 2004 Suburban 4WD with 5.3L engine and 4.10 axles? It is 7200 MVGW and has Z82 hd towing rpo. Thanks!
Forum Discussion
Thanks for the replies.
The reason for replacing the engine is that the original engine blew (spun a bearing) climbing our Tn Monteagle mountain year before last. I (mistakenly) opted for a used engine and now I have one that I can't trust for long hauls to the Atlantic coast where we like to vacation. I've pulled the boat (much lighter than the camper) several times on short hauls ok but the used engine has an oil circulation problem to #1 & #3 rocker arms (front two cyls on driver's side) and I'm not sure how to fix it other than to replace the engine. When the engine oil is cold there is no oil flow to those two rockers and so there is rocker arm knock when cold and warming up. Once the oil is warm it will flow to those rockers but with less volume than should be there and there is still a valve "tick" there. Other than that oil flow issue the used engine is good and pretty strong, but not as strong as the original engine, and probably not nearly as strong as a new engine would be. I've been running a cutting agent with the oil (5w30 Valvoline blend) for about 5k miles now hoping that the blockage would be cut but no luck so far. It may be getting slightly better but I still don't think I'd trust it on long hauls. I have a friend who is a Chevy tech at our local dealership and he first thought the problem was a collapsed lifter so he replaced the lifters and that's when he noticed that with cold oil there was no flow to those two rockers, but when the oil was warm the flow would begin. He said no way to clean those oil galley's other than vatting the block which means engine replacement. Maybe someone here might have some ideas on a cutting agent that might work better without dumping so much sludge that the oil pump screen would get clogged. Many thanks to all for opinions.
MartyW
The reason for replacing the engine is that the original engine blew (spun a bearing) climbing our Tn Monteagle mountain year before last. I (mistakenly) opted for a used engine and now I have one that I can't trust for long hauls to the Atlantic coast where we like to vacation. I've pulled the boat (much lighter than the camper) several times on short hauls ok but the used engine has an oil circulation problem to #1 & #3 rocker arms (front two cyls on driver's side) and I'm not sure how to fix it other than to replace the engine. When the engine oil is cold there is no oil flow to those two rockers and so there is rocker arm knock when cold and warming up. Once the oil is warm it will flow to those rockers but with less volume than should be there and there is still a valve "tick" there. Other than that oil flow issue the used engine is good and pretty strong, but not as strong as the original engine, and probably not nearly as strong as a new engine would be. I've been running a cutting agent with the oil (5w30 Valvoline blend) for about 5k miles now hoping that the blockage would be cut but no luck so far. It may be getting slightly better but I still don't think I'd trust it on long hauls. I have a friend who is a Chevy tech at our local dealership and he first thought the problem was a collapsed lifter so he replaced the lifters and that's when he noticed that with cold oil there was no flow to those two rockers, but when the oil was warm the flow would begin. He said no way to clean those oil galley's other than vatting the block which means engine replacement. Maybe someone here might have some ideas on a cutting agent that might work better without dumping so much sludge that the oil pump screen would get clogged. Many thanks to all for opinions.
MartyW
